Properties of the crown
by 4gardiean
Summary: With the return of the king, Faramir needs to know what the state of the crown's properties are. Part of the series: beginning of a new age


_Notes_

Written for B2MeM 2019, day4 (O72). Prompt covered: real estate

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Faramir walks down to the sixth level for he needs to talk to one of the estate agents. These agents oversee the estates of lords. Those agents who reside in Minas Tirith only serve the lords who have properties in the city or have their main residence here. Such as the steward's households and soon the royal household. But as of right now the royal household belongs to the same groups as the absent lords do.

Soon he approaches the office of the agents. He can see that their office is not badly damaged which give him hope that he can get the information he seeks. The absence of the damage is due to the fact that the offices are located far from the wall. Any attack that reached the sixth level would not have been able to touch it. Not that there is a lot of damage on this level.

As he enters the office, he notices how quiet it is. Not that surprising since the agents have a lot to look after. The properties are currently being used to house the soldiers and peasants who lost their homes. He is about to ask someone to direct him to the agent he needs to talk to when he is approached by his own agent, Saelheneb.

"My lord, have you come to inquire about your properties?"

"No, Saelheneb, I have not. I seek the agent who looks after the royal properties. I need to know their state so that I can inform our new king their state."

"Ben iest lîn, my lord. You can find the person you seek in the back room. Maeheneb will be there. He looks after all the properties from absent lords. As I am sure you know, the royal household is the only one which belongs to that group. As for Maeheneb, my lord, I know him well for I trained him myself. He notices immediately when there are discrepancies in documents. As such you do not have to worry that the properties are in disorder. Nor that there is anything wrong with them."

Faramir smiles at Saelheneb for it is clear that he is proud of his former apprentice. It is also clear that both agents know each other well. They might be close colleagues if not friends. Something which is normal after a good apprenticeship where the relationship endured.

"Le Hannon, Saelheneb, for your information. I will seek out your colleague. Novaer!"

"Novaer, my lord."

Saelheneb bows before Faramir walks to the room he was directed to. As he walks to the room, he can see into the other room along his way for their doors are left open. The agents in those rooms are all working hard based on the piles of papers he can see on their desks. It is to be expected since a lot of homes have been destroyed and others need to be carefully looked after because soldiers and peasants reside into them. All thanks to the siege that destroyed parts of the city.

Once he reaches the room, he is met with a closed door. Faramir wonders if Maeheneb is not present but visiting one of the properties he looks after. Or does he want to work in peace? Well, there is only one way to find out. That is by knocking on the door.

That is also what he does. He has to waits for a while before he finally gets a response from the person in the room.

"Enter!"

At this, he opens the door. Inside the room, he finds a similar situation as in the other rooms he managed to look into. That is, there are a lot of papers lying on the desk. Behind the desk, he can see a young man sitting. The young man has brown hair and brown eyes. He is dressed in a green tunic which is decorated by embroidery. Embroidery which is clearly done by an inexperienced hand. Most likely a younger sister of someone who does not often embroider.

"Suil, my lord Faramir. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Suil, Maeheneb. I came to inquire about the state of the crown's properties."

"You inquire about them because of the king's return?"

"Yes, I do."

"That is not surprising, my lord. I had also thought someone might inquire about them. But I actually thought that the king might do that and that as such I would have some time left to check on the properties."

Faramir smiles at Maeheneb's reaction. It shows clearly that he has actually been expecting the inquiry but not today. He expected it to receive it for some time yet.

He sees how Maeheneb searches through his papers for a specific paper. After some time, Maeheneb finally pulls one out of the stack. Maeheneb exams it before turning his attention to him. After finishing the examination, Maeheneb scratches his head nervously. A behavior which worried Faramir.

"What is wrong, Maeheneb?"

"Nothing serious, my lord. This is the latest report I made but it is dated from before the war. I do not know what the state of the properties is right now. I would have to visit each of the properties which would take me a few months to do. I am afraid that I cannot give you the information you seek right now. How soon do you want me to inform our new king about the state if his properties?"

"I would like for you to present the report as soon as you can to our king. Would it also be possible to include the amount of money that belongs to the royal house?"

"That is possible. However, it would delay the report for several more days as I need to talk to one of the bankers about it."

"That is alright. Please present it at your earliest convenience."

"Ben iest lîn, my lord. I will go pack for the inspections then. Or do you need something else from me?"

"No, I do not, Maeheneb. Novaer."

"Novaer, my lord."

Faramir leaves the office but notices how Maeheneb starts to quickly organize his office. He decides to make a quick detour to his own agent before returning to his house to prepare for the dinner he will have with Éowyn.

Four months later, a knock on the door disrupts Aragorn from his correspondence. After bidding the person entry he see a young man entering with a stack of papers. Aragorn sighs inwardly because he knows that he will have another report to study now. He had hoped to not see any reports for some time. A idle hope, he now knows.

"Ai Sire, Im Maeheneb. I came to give you the report prince Faramir requested I made of your properties. I hope it meets your approval. Should you need anything then please seek me out in the agent's office."

"Le hannon, Maeheneb."

Maeheneb bows and leaves the office quickly. Aragorn does not know why but suspects it is either nerves or a desire finish his remaining work. It would also explain his earlier words. Aragorn looks the report over and then decides that is best if Faramir exams it with him. As such he calls a servant to summon Faramir to him.

Ten minutes later, Faramir and he are carefully examining the report. They spend a full hour examining the report before they have time to spend on anything else.

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Translations

Ben iest lîn: as you wish

Le hannon: thank you

Novaer: farewell

Suil: greetings

Ai: heil

Im: I am


End file.
